When The Past Comes Knocking
by Miss Esa
Summary: After years apart Emma Swan turns up on her foster brother's doorstep broken, alone, and unknowingly pregnant. With the help of August and his roommate Liam she begins to heal, but tragedy will strike again. No curse AU Emma/Liam friendship, eventual CaptainSwan
1. Prologue

**Summary:** After years apart Emma Swan turns up on her foster brother's doorstep broken, alone, and unknowingly pregnant. With the help of August and his roommate Liam she begins to heal, but tragedy will strike again. No curse AU Emma/Liam friendship, eventual CaptainSwan.

**Author Notes:** This is just another AU that has been rattling around my brain for the past few weeks. I have the basic plotline of this planned out, and I would love your input on what I have written so far.

**When The Past Comes Knocking**

Today was just not his day. His alarm didn't go off this morning so he awoke late for a meeting with his publisher, then his motorcycle didn't want to start. When he finally made it to the office (after three separate bus rides _and_ almost getting plowed over by a taxi cab) he found out that the meeting was canceled.

August sighed as he pulled the door to his apartment shut behind him and threw his wallet and keys on the small table next to the door. He made his way to the fridge and grabbed a beer before heading to the sofa and throwing his feet up on the unstable coffee table. Just as August was about to switch on the television somebody knocked on the door quietly. It couldn't be his roommate, Liam, even if he had forgotten his key he wouldn't knock, pounding was much more his style. Maybe it was his best friend David, but he had already told David he wasn't in the mood to hit up any bar this evening. August groaned as he got off the sofa and made his way over to the door.

"Seriously David, I told you…"August started as he swung the door open to reveal a young woman he hadn't laid eyes on in years, not since he left his last foster home. She was staring down at her shoes, embarrassed. Her blond tresses were uncombed, her clothing was worn and ill fitting, and bruises covered what little skin he could see. "Emma"?

"Could I come in?" She mumbled, not looking up from her feet.

"Sure." August replied as he ushered her into his apartment. He grabbed the back pack from her hand and hung it on the back of the door. He turned back to his foster sister and looked her over once again. Her skin was dirty and pale, and she looked as if she had been wearing the same clothes for days. "What the hell happened to you?"

She shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to talk about it, but that wouldn't stop him. "How about I make you a hot coco?" 

Emma sat at the counter while August busied himself by prepping two mugs of hot chocolate. She kept her eyes on the granite in front of her and tried to keep the tears at bay.

"Ems, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He asked as he warmed the milk.

"I know." She replied in a quiet voice.

"Then please, just tell me what happened." He begged as he turned to look at the blonde. Her shoulders slumped and the tears fell freely from her eyes. August dropped the mug to the counter and ran to gather his sister in his arms. He held pulled her to his chest and tried his best to comfort her.

Sobs wracked her body as she tried to gather the courage and the words to tell him what happened. All she could muster up was a simple but heartbreaking "He hit me."

August held in his anger and he rubbed her back. "Who? Who hit you?"

"Neal."


	2. Chapter One

**Author Notes: **I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited this story so far, it means a lot to answer a guest review, Emma is 17 in the first chapter which makes August (and Neal) 24. We are going to say the Liam is 25, and Killian is 21 at that time. Just as a heads up, this is not a Neal friendly fic, and this chapter may contain possible triggers for rape and abuse.

**When The Past Comes Knocking **

Emma and her boyfriend, Neal Cassidy were holed up in a rundown motel on the outskirts of Boston. Neal swore that the place reminded him of the Bates Motel from that old horror movie from the 60's. (He promised to show Emma the movie when they got to Tallahassee) The wallpaper was faded and peeling off the wall, the carpet looked like it was generations old, and the room smelled of moth balls and mold, but it was home for now.

The pair were huddled over a map of the city, getting ready to plan their next heist. Neal had stolen $20,000 in watches from his former employer prior to meeting the blonde teenager, and ditched them in a storage locker at the nearby Amtrak station. The plan was simple, he would send Emma into the station to retrieve the watches and they would fence them and head to Tallahassee with the money they would make. It seemed easy enough.

"This is it Em, no more robbing gas stations or convince stores. After we get these watches we will be set." Neal said as he pulled the blonde in for a kiss, one hand threading through her hair and the other placed firmly on her waist. He had never been this bold with her in the past, and Emma began to panic. She knew Neal was had more experience than her but she never expected him to be this adventurous this soon in their relationship.

"What are you doing?" Emma exclaimed as she tried to pull away from him, but Neal just held her tighter and began placing open mouth kisses along her jaw.

"Shush Ems, you'll enjoy it, I promise."

Her body trembled each time he touched her but she quickly discovered he either didn't notice or he didn't care. She cried out as he entered her and he mistook her pain for pleasure.

* * *

The following morning Neal and Emma headed over to the Amtrak station so they could secure the watches and set their plan in motion.

"Remember, you need to try and blend in" Neal said as he placed a kiss on her cheek and ushered her out of their vehicle. Neal waited in their twice stolen yellow VW Bug while Emma made her way into the station with the key to a storage locker and an empty purse.

The building was bustling as bodies pushed past one another in a hurry to get to work. Emma glanced around the building and caught sight of a security guard at the other end of the room. She put her head down and made her way to the lockers.

It didn't take long for Emma to find the bin that corresponded with the key. She opened the locker and all that was inside was a burlap pouch. She pealed open the corner to check the contents and removed it from the locker. She held the pouch in her hands as she turned around and came face to face with the security guard.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" He questioned as Emma began to panic. She fumbled with the pouch and tried to cram it in her purse as she ran from the officer.

In her haste to get away she stumbled and the package containing the watches fell out of her hands and slid across the floor. The security guard was right behind her so she abandoned the watches and ran for the door before he could call for backup.

Emma ripped open the door to the bug and screamed for Neal to go. When they got back to the motel Neal snatched the purse from Emma and peered inside.

"Where the hell are the watches!?" He howled as he threw the empty purse to the floor.

"I-I dropped them." Emma stuttered as Neal stepped closer to her, his eyes darkened as his hand made contact with her cheek.

"You are worthless!" Neal roared, throwing her down onto the floor where she landed with a loud thud.

"Neal stop, you don't-" Emma began, holding back tears against the onslaught.

He reached down, gripping her throat tight with one hand. "If you had just followed through with the plan this would have never happened!"

The man released her after that, slamming the door shut behind him as he stormed out of the apartment. Emma was too tired to get up, her body too sore to move, but she knew she needed to get out and she needed to go find August.


End file.
